Medical devices, such as catheter systems, are well known in the art for use in medical procedures, such as diagnostic, therapeutic and ablative procedures. Typical catheter systems generally include an elongate flexible catheter shaft extending from a handle. A physician manipulates the catheter shaft through the patient's vasculature to an intended site within the patient.
The catheter system may be comprised of multiple components and may include mechanical steering features or components that may be manually manipulated to position a catheter shaft within the body at a desired site or to operate the catheter system during use. Individual components of a catheter system may be integrally formed into a unitary member, separately formed and permanently affixed to one another, or separately formed and releasably secured to one another. Other configurations may also be known in the art.
A catheter or catheter system may be positioned within a patient's vasculature during a procedure by simultaneous application of torque at the proximal end of the catheter and/or by selectively deflecting the distal tip of the catheter in a desired direction. The distal tip of the catheter can be deflected by a pull wire or other suitable tension member attached or anchored at the distal end of the catheter and extending proximally to an actuator in a control handle that controls the application of tension on the pull wire. In some cases, movement of the actuator and rotation of the catheter system at a proximal end thereof, however, may potentially cause unintended and/or undesirable rotation of certain releasably secured components with respect to one another.